Rudolf
|fullname =Unknown (Possibly Albein Alm Rudolf I) |jap_fullname = |alias = |jap_alias = |gender =Male |race =Human |birthday = |fod_birth = |age =50 |relatives =Unnamed Younger Brother Unnamed Sister-in-Law Alm (Son) Celica (Daughter-in-law) Conrad (Half-Son-in-Law) Berkut (Nephew) |nationality =Rigel |home = |residence =Rigel Castle |faction(s) =Rigelian Army |occupation(s) =Emperor of Rigel |game =Fire Emblem Gaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Fire Emblem Heroes |firstseen =Chapter 4: The Land of Sorrow (Gaiden) Chapter 2: The Pilgrimage (Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) |firstjoined = |firstfought =Chapter 4: The Land of Sorrow (Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) |class =Gold Knight |mirage = |voiceby =Jamieson Price |jap_voiceby =Takayuki Sugō }} Rudolf is one of the main antagonists of Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. He is the emperor of Rigel. Profile The fourth Emperor of Rigel, as well as a renowned general who stood on the battlefield from a young age, with numerous victories to his name, Rudolf was chosen as the successor of Rigel III despite being only an indirect descendant due to his ability to wield the Falchion and bearing the brand of Duma. Having had a strong relationship with Mycen in their adolescence, both were thoughtful yet hot-blooded men, who would stay up all night to debate Rigel’s future and current state. Following his ascension, a young Rudolf met with the War Father at Duma Temple. During this time, Rudolf sensed Duma’s disturbing descent into madness. Nevertheless, he pledged dominion of Valentia to Duma. However, he did not specify the time of invasion; instead, he ruled while promising to prepare for war. Thereafter, in order to convince Duma of his intent to conquer Zofia, he bolstered the Rigelian army’s armaments. Seeking guidance, Rudolf met with Halcyon, the High Priest of the Duma Faithful. It was then that he received a prophecy foretelling Valentia’s spiral into destruction, with only two with special Brands, one born in Zofia and another in Rigel, held the power to free the Valentian continent from the gods’ control–the “Children of Fate”. About 17 years prior to the start of Gaiden/''Shadows of Valentia'', Rudolf was blessed with a son who bore a special brand of Duma on his left hand. Upon seeing this mark as well as receiving a report that a Zofian princess with a Brand was born around the same time, Rudolf realized that Halcyon’s prophecy was in motion, and secretly met with Mycen, where he entrusted his son to him to raise into a great warrior. Through the years, Rudolf enacted a plan to spur the Valentian people into conflict in order to end the rule of Duma and Mila on the Rigelian and Zofian people respectively, both whom he viewed as a danger to humans as a whole. During said preparations, a man was washed ashore in Rigel and discovered by a Rigelian priestess, who man showed great skill as a knight and the two became close. Naming him Ezekiel, or Zeke for short, Rudolf tasked him to follow a man who bore a mark on his left hand should he ever meet him in battle. Zeke would later uphold this promise, following Alm in his cause. As such, when the poor harvests persisted to the point when the Empire’s food stockpiles ran out, Rudolf made the decision to invade Zofia, starting the invasion. By becoming a conqueror, seemingly set on unifying the continent of Valentia under a single rule, Rudolf begins his real plan, requesting the Falchion from Duma in order to seal Mila, and aiding Desaix in his rebellion in order to provoke the true heroes to come out and stop him or unite the continent by military might. Over the years, Rudolf became acquainted with his nephew, Berkut, who desired to become heir to the Empire by becoming a great knight worthy of Rudolf. Rudolf often humored Berkut's ambitions and grandeur, but when he constantly failed him during the conflict against the Zofian force, the Deliverance, Rudolf sidelines him to prevent further shame upon the empire. End of the Age of Gods Alm, who leads the Deliverance, eventually reaches Rigel Castle. At the dawn of the battle, Rudolf praises his knights for their loyalty and orders them to surrender peacefully should he fall in battle. Eventually, Alm meets Rudolf atop the castle and the two clash weapons. Rudolf willingly allows Alm to mortally wound him without fighting back. Alm is confused by Rudolf's lack of resistance, but Rudolf hushes him so he can give him his final words. Rudolf reveals that Alm is his long lost son, Albein Alm Rudolf II, whom he sent away with Mycen to become a great hero. With his dying breath, Rudolf expresses pride in his son and knows that he will be able to be the hero who will slay the oppressive gods of Valentia and lead the people to a prosperous future without their influence. In his death, the truth of Alm's heritage is revealed to the Valentian people. Before the battle, his trusted personal guard Massena was fully informed of Rudolf's 17 year long plan who in turn puts all his effort in seeing Rudolf's ambition come to fruition. Though Rudolf did not live to see his plans succeed, Alm eventually fulfilled his father's vision by slaying Duma and laying both Divine Dragons to rest. Personality A man of great ambition, Rudolf commands Rigel with great respect from the masses and undying loyalty from the knights in his service. Even his final order was strictly observed by his order of knights upon his death. Even Berkut admires Rudolf, possibly being the only individual he has ever shown such respect. However, despite caring for Berkut like a son, Rudolf kept him at arm's length due to his plans for the continent. Inversely, due to the war he launched against Zofia, he is seen by the Zofian people as a power hungry conqueror who is merely trying to unify Valentia through force. In truth, Rudolf was a man of great order and initiative, seeing that the influence of Duma and Mila on the Valentians were too harmful for the Valentians and awaiting for the circumstances that could lead to the end of the rule of the Divine Dragons. Upon seeing the Brand on his son's hand and hearing of a Zofian princess with the selfsame mark, Rudolf enacted his plan, even at the expense of his son and himself. Even after 17 years, after seeing his son for the first and last time since he first gave him to Mycen to raise, he expressed great pride in his son's power and kindness and dies happily knowing that Valentia would have a great leader in his absence. In-Game ''Fire Emblem Gaiden Stats ''*''Due to equipped Angel Ring Strategy As previously stated, if Alm attacks Rudolf or if Rudolf attacks Alm, then Rudolf will not attack/attack back. This is the only real method that the player can use to beat him (unless they level grind for a very extensive amount of time), as in addition to being equipped with an Angel Ring (which essentially boosts his critical rate by 20%), he has very high HP (52, the max HP of the game for all units except the final boss), attack, defense, and speed. Assuming the player has refrained from serious level grinding, he will generally be able to double any unit that attacks him, and given that the highest amount of defense your units will have generally is 20 at best (and this would only include your Barons), he will do an average of 14 or more damage given the fact that he has a high critical rate. If not for the fact that Rudolf will not attack Alm in battle, Rudolf would likely be the most difficult boss out of all the Fire Emblem games given his high stats and abilities, along with the fact that he moves. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Stats |-|Normal= ''*''Due to equipped Angel Ring |-|Hard= ''*''Due to equipped Angel Ring Strategy Like ''Gaiden, Rudolf will not attack Alm. If Alm is in range of Rudolf, he will initiate an attack on Alm. Rudolf is fairly vulnerable to magic; the best strategy to abuse this would be to kill all of the enemy Bow Knights and use a Bow Knight of your own to kill the enemy Arcanists before attempting to attack Rudolf. This would require Rudolf moving out of his position, which would entail using the Invoke spell or sending an incredibly durable unit to lure Rudolf out of his position to a point where he can attacked by a Thunder or Sagittae spell over the wall of the right side of the map. In Hard Mode, Rudolf cannot be killed with magic alone due to his improved resistance and how the enemies on the map are positioned differently. The best strategy in Hard Mode would be to lure out Rudolf with Dread Fighter from Silque's Invoke spell, targeting him with as much magic as possible, and having Alm finish him off, with the Royal Sword's Double Lion skill if necessary. If you have Delthea with Ragnarok however, as well as training 3 other mages (Preferably the 3 Saints), and you had defeated Nuibaba (which is highly recommended as Tatiana is by far the best healer in the game), you can use both Silque and Tatiana's Invokes to lure Rudolf into moving as soon as possible, and allowing all 4 to bombard him with attacks, and due to the Mage Ring that can be traded around, all 4 will have 1-4 range against Rudolf, and as Sephraim and Ragnarok are the most accurate spells in the game, this method should kill Rudolf quite easily, as long as Silque, Faye and Tatiana have decent attack values. ''Fire Emblem Heroes |-|Lovely Gifts= ;Emperor of Rigel :''The stern, commanding Emperor of Rigel. Father of Alm and uncle of Berkut. Appears in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Base Stats Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯ Lance |Skill= Thorn Lance Glowing Ember }} Skills Overall Base Set Counters Skill Inheritance Quotes Battle Quotes Vs. Alm: * Alm: '''What's going on? Why won't you attack? What are you planning, Rudolf?! * '''Rudolf: ...... Critical * "The time has come!" * "Fool!" * "No mercy!" * "Now perish!" Defeated * "This is...as it should be..." ''Heroes'' :Rudolf/Heroes Quotes Etymology Rudolf is a Germanic name deriving from two stems: Rod or Hrōð, meaning "fame", and olf meaning "wolf". Trivia *Rudolf's first name is unknown, as his son Alm's full name, Albein Alm Rudolf II, clarifies that Rudolf is the family name. This makes him one of the only Fire Emblem characters to be referred to only by his last name. **However, given the fact that his son is called Albein Alm Rudolf II, it's highly likely that the Emperor's full name is Albein Alm Rudolf I though this is never confirmed. * His official artwork depicts him wielding both the Emperor Lance and the Emperor Shield. *Rudolf does not have facial hair in the manga adaptation, but he has it in the game. **In the manga, he wields an axe when only Thieves can use axes in Fire Emblem Gaiden. Gold Knights would be able to use axes in later games, however. *Aside from the manga, there is no artwork of Rudolf in any of the supplementary material for the original Gaiden. This is likely why he was excluded from SpotPass content relating to Gaiden in Fire Emblem Awakening. *Rudolf shares his English VA, Jamieson Price, with Priam from Fire Emblem Awakening. *Rudolf makes a cameo appearance during the Inner Stregnth Lost Lore event in Fire Emblem Heroes prior to his debut as a playable unit. Gallery Category:Enemies Category:Fire Emblem Gaiden characters Category:Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia characters Category:Male Characters Category:Fire Emblem Heroes Characters Category:Playable characters